Letting Go
by MinnieMay
Summary: There's trouble for Dawn's first date when Glory's henchmen show up to kidnap her. Can Spike save her? Please read and review!


  
Disclaimer: Ok I don't own Buffy and I never will. ^^;; I'm too poor.  
  
Notes: 'kay well this takes place a little while after The Body. (Not right after for obvious reasons). Anywho the goddess of water Willow is calling upon in her spell is Cliodna, which is an Irish (?) goddess of the sea. I just made the spell up. ^_^ Oh and I didn't know the name of the boy Dawn was talking to in The Body so I made it up. ^_^ Ain't I great?  
  
Oh and people please review! I love reviews! This is my first Buffy fic so be gentle! Enjoy!  
Letting Go  
  
"Buffy I'm going!" Dawn screamed at the top of her lungs. She wished she had something to fling at her sister at the moment. Something, of course, other than her fists. There were benefits to having The Slayer as her sister; this was not one of them.  
  
"You're not going anywhere Dawn!" Buffy yelled, her face turning a bright shade of red, Dawn noted with satisfaction. Dawn hated when Buffy tried to boss her around. Buffy was NOT the boss of her; there was no way in HELL she was going to give in to Buffy now. This was really important to her....it was her first date. How often did people get their first date? Now was the time that Buffy chose to suddenly become worried about Glory again.  
  
"You can't order me around you know!" Dawn snapped banging her way into the kitchen. She made sure to stomp as much as possible, just for good measure. "Your not my mother-" Dawn stopped in the middle of her sentence but that didn't help. It hung in the air, making it hard for her to breathe. Buffy looked at her in surprise and worst of all, hurt.   
  
"I know I'm not," Buffy began quietly. "No one can be as great as mom is-was-" Buffy quickly corrected herself, "but Dawn..." Buffy looked at Dawn, who had dropped her head and was in the process of examining the tiles of the floor. Dawn couldn't believe she had said anything so stupid. Stupid and insensitive. Ever since their mother had died Buffy had been giving it her all to really take care of Dawn. On some level Dawn knew that Buffy was just trying to take care of the family that she had left. Dawn just wanted to act like normal, even if it meant hurting Buffy. "Dawn look at me," Buffy said softly, placing her hand under Dawn's chin and lifting her face up so that they could see each other eye to eye. "Dawn I'm trying ok. I may not be doing the best job, but I'm trying." Tears appeared in Buffy's eyes and once again Dawn felt the sickening guilt in the pit of her stomach.   
  
"I'm sorry!" Dawn said hugging Buffy. Buffy hugged her back tightly. "You're doing a great job," Dawn sniffled. They drew out of the embrace and Dawn swiped the back of her hand under her eye to dry the tears.   
  
"Now look at you," Buffy said laughing. "Your make-up's all messed up. Let's go upstairs so I can clean you up. After all you wouldn't want to look bad for your date."  
  
Dawn could feel her face glowing as her happy-rate shot up a hundred percent. "Really? You mean I can go?" Dawn asked, feeling bubbly.   
  
"Sure you can. Only not like that" Buffy said pointing to the smeared mascara on her face.  
  
"Oh" Dawn remarked, looking in a hallway mirror. "Opps"  
*****  
  
Buffy watched Dawn and her date get in his mother's car and drive away. They were only going to see a movie. Really what was the harm in that? Not much of a chance that Glory would be prowling around the movie theater looking for her Key among the sticky floors and empty popcorn containers. But then again that's where that whole craziness thing might factor in. Unbeknown by her Buffy had begun drumming her fingers on the windowsill.   
  
It could be very dangerous for Dawn to be out there on her own. Any minute now Glory could find out that Dawn was the key and where would be the first place she looked? In the movie theaters of course. Buffy blinked and realized that she was thinking like a loony. There was seriously no harm in letting Dawn go out and have a little fun by herself. It wasn't like the girl hadn't earned it with all the gloomy time lately. Actually it was time for Buffy to get out too.   
  
Buffy strode toward the phone and quickly punched in Willows number, waiting as it rung. On the third ring Willow picked up.  
  
"Hi" Buffy said immediately, not waiting for Willow to greet her. "Want to do something tonight? I really need to get out of the house." Buffy spewed quickly into the phone, not letting Willow get a word in.   
  
"Whoa girl! Slow down a minute," Willow said as soon as Buffy was done. And they said Willow rambled.  
  
"Sorry" Buffy said sullenly.  
  
"It's ok Buffy it's just, umm I mean if you, well if you want," Willow said cautiously.   
  
"Yea I really want to get out. Why doesn't everyone meet over at the Bronze, make a night of it. Sounding ok to you?"   
  
"10-4 buddy" Willow giggled. "Meet you there in a jiffy."  
  
"A jiffy?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Just trying out a new word. Trying to broaden the vocabulary" Willow said. "Not me?"  
  
"I think you better stick with the old vocabulary" Buffy said surpressing a laugh. "See you down at the Bronze."  
  
"Oh wait Buffy!" Willow said in a hurry before she could hang up.   
  
"What?" Buffy asked sounding a little worried.   
  
"Oh it's nothing important. I was just wondering what Dawn was doing. Maybe she'd want to come?" Willow asked, testing the waters. Lately Buffy had been more protective than ever about Dawn, not that Willow blamed her. Joyce's death had been hard on everyone but nowhere near as hard as it had been on Buffy and Dawn.  
  
"I'm sure she would if she was here, but she's not." Buffy paused. "Here I mean. She's on a date."  
  
"Well look at our little Dawny all grown up." Willow said proudly, Buffy giggled. Seconds later Buffy was in her room disputing what to wear. She went with a pale blue tank top and a pair of black pants. Pulling them on in a hurry she padded down the stairs and quickly checked her appearance in the mirror. She didn't look bad except for the big raccoon eyes she seemed to have acquired from lack of sleep. She sighed and headed out the door, in the direction of the Bronze.  
****  
Dawn and her date Jordan stood waiting in line at the movie theater. His mom had dropped them off about ten minutes ago and now they stood waiting in line to buy a ticket.  
  
"Sorry my mom had to take us. My brother's a jerk and said he was to busy when all he really does is sit around the house doing nothing all day" Jordan explained apologetically.   
  
"Yea I know the feeling my sister didn't want me to go out tonight because she was afraid of Glo-of me getting robbed" Dawn recovered quickly. Darting her eyes to look at Jordan's reaction quickly. It didn't seem like he was all that weirder out and Dawn began to relax.  
  
"Siblings are the worst" Jordan agreed grinning. God was he cute, Dawn thought letting out an inaudible sigh. She would have to remind herself to watch the movie instead of just staring at him.  
  
"So what do you what to see? I think that one about the love triangle looks interesting" Dawn said pointing to one of the posters. On it a puzzled looking brown haired boy stood between two girls. One was beautiful and had long dark hair and the other was cute, with her short blonde hair in a bob. Dawn had thought that movie had looked so good, at the moment she could use something normal.   
  
"Orange Road Saga?" Jordan asked scrunching up his nose. "Why don't we see something more fantasy or sci-fi?" Jordan asked scanning the posters. Dawn watched his eyes scan the posters and finally land on one; she cringed. "How about Lord of the Vampires? The special effects in that are supposed to be really awesome."  
  
Dawn tried to keep a smile platted firmly on her face. "Sure I'd love to see that" she answered with false cheeriness. "It looks-" she paused, trying to find the right word, "interesting."  
  
They went up and bought the tickets and quickly headed inside for popcorn and drinks.   
  
"Sorry if you didn't want to see this movie. It's just once in awhile I wanna... I dunno get out of my surroundings, know what I mean. You know watch something that's far out there" Jordan explained with an embarrassed smile on his face. "You must think I'm a freak now."  
  
"Of course not! I know just how you feel" Dawn said eagerly stepping up to the front of the line with him. While Jordan ordered the popcorn Dawn heaved out a sigh. If only he knew.  
****  
Buffy ordered another drink and began tapping to the tune. She tried to stop herself and ended up drawing spiral circles with her fingers on the tabletop. Maybe this hadn't been such a bright idea.   
  
Buffy looked up and watched as the couples danced; Tara and Willow, Xander and Anya. Next Giles would walk in with a date and she'd be the loneliest person on earth. Even though she had decided that she needed some time for herself, without a boyfriend, moments like these were still hard.   
  
The song ended and everyone came back to sit at the table. "That was fun!" Willow said bubbly.  
  
"Yes there was much fun to be had" Xander replied, sipping his drink.  
  
"No there wasn't!" Anya said quickly. "No fun of any kind!"  
  
"Anya, see she doesn't mean that kind of-" Xander began to explain but Anya cut him off again.  
  
"I know what she was talking about. I didn't think it was nice to speak about fun having when Buffy doesn't have a date. You know she's just been sitting there the entire time and-"  
  
"I'm fine really. You guys shouldn't worry about me not having fun" Buffy interrupted. "Look at me, does it look like I'm having a bad time?" Buffy asked sitting up straighter and smiling.  
  
"Honestly?" Tara asked smiling slightly.  
  
"Ok, ok I know I haven't been Miss Happy-go-lucky-Buffy tonight but I'm just worried about Dawn. You know it's never safe for her with Glory out there. Plus she's my little sister" Buffy explained looking around the table.  
  
"I'm sure Dawn will be just fine," Xander said reassuringly. "But if you want we could all go spy on her. I'm very stealthy, gotta love the stealthy."  
  
Buffy laughed and shook her head. "As much as I'd like to take you up on that offer right now I don't think I should. Dawn needs to do something fun and normal, something without any spying or vampy action."  
  
A fast song erupted into the Bronze and people began walking towards the dance floor. "Well I don't know about any of you" Buffy said getting up, "but I really need to do some serious dancing." Buffy grinned as her friends got up and walked with her over to the dance floor. "I won't worry about Dawn anymore," Buffy told herself as she began to relax and have fun.   
****  
"Did you hear where she said the sister was?" a brunette asked from one of the tables near Buffy's group. She kept her eyes glued on the dance floor, watching the group of friends dance. "Well?"  
  
"I don't think she said, Lisa" muttered a teenaged boy with curly red hair. A boy on his other side nodded. Lisa's face turned a bright shade of red and both of the guys cringed. Lisa took several deep breaths before continuing.  
  
"Weren't you supposed to be listening? There are at least three cinemas in this area. Do you suggest we look in all of them? By the time we find the right one she'll be gone!" Lisa said this last part a little louder than she had planned to, warranting stares from some nearby tables. She cleared her throat and continued, this time much quieter. "Do you have any idea what Glory will do to us if we botch up this job? I'd rather be on the end of the Slayer's spike." The two guys nodded mutely looking shaken up. "Now what we're going to do is spilt up. We'll each take one of the major theaters, got that? Good, then as soon as we find her what do we do?" she asked in a patronizing voice, looking from one face to the other.  
  
The redhead, Bruce, piped up. "We grab the girl and run?" he suggested quietly, looking as if he very much feared for his life. He probably did.  
  
"NO!" Lisa yelled throwing her fist down on the table, her blue eyes furious. The dark haired boy next to Bruce, Philip, tried his best to mop up what remained of his drink. What wasn't on the table was seeping coldly into his pants.   
  
Lisa looked around nervously and noticed that most of the prying eyes had turned away. She quickly checked the group's position on the dance floor before continuing. "Philip, please tell me at least you know what to do?" she said sweetly, her voice betraying the venom in her eyes.   
  
"Y-y-y-yes I d-d-do miss" he stuttered. Lisa stared at him, waiting. He tried to moisten his dry throat unsuccessfully. He could see that Lisa was becoming impatient so he began again. "W-we sound that whistle that you gave us, the one that'll bring that demon. I think the demon is supposed to take care of it from there."  
  
"Now that wasn't so hard" Lisa mumbled, throwing back the rest of her drink. Once again she checked the position of the Scoobys. Though the song had changed, everyone was still up there dancing. She did a quick count; everyone accounted for. She stuck her hand into her pocket and produced a crumpled 20, shoving in down on the table. Getting up she motioned the others to follow with her hand.   
  
"Come on boys it's gonna be a long night," with that she began, with lackeys in tow, to walk towards the back door. She opened the door and held it open to the guys with a sarcastic "after you." They stumbled out, one immediately after another. She was about to follow when she got a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling of being watched. She spun around so quickly that her dark brown hair whiplashed into her face. No one. No one was paying the least bit of attention to them. She turned around back towards the door where her servants were waiting patiently, looking a bit confused. Lisa sighed and shook her head. Why was she so damn jumpy? Taking one last scan around the Bronze she flounced out the door, letting it slam back into place.  
****  
Lisa didn't notice the dark brown eyes starring at her retreating figure. Spike heaved a sigh and pushed a hand through his bleached blonde hair. Now this was something to think about. He tapped his fingers on the table and watched as the artificial lighting of the Bronze gleamed off the black nail polish. Something to think about indeed.  
  
Spike had been sitting in an upholstered chair by Buffy's table. Near enough to hear but far enough not to be seen. It had taken him quite a bit of trouble to come by such a perfect spot. In fact he had to spend some of his own blood money to get rid of the man who had been sitting in it before. There was no way he could have thrown the man out of the chair and still remained undercover. He was sure that Buffy didn't really want to see him at the moment.  
  
However, Spike had heard something that wasn't intended for his ears; the plans of Glory's vampires. Now that he knew what they were going to do he had a hard decision to make.   
  
On one hand he could go over there right now and tell Buffy about the plans he heard. There were some problems with this plan, however. Like the fact that Buffy seemed to dislike Spike intensely at the moment. So much that she had put the barrier against him back up in her house. That had hurt. Then of course was the delightful fact that she couldn't trust Spike as far as she could throw him. Well actually, with Buffy that might not be true but at least she didn't particularly trust him. The mother of all reasons was, of course, how could he explain his being there so close to Buffy's table? She would know that he was stalk-well keeping an eye out for her. And there was always the off chance that somehow Buffy would find a way to blame the whole thing on Spike. She seemed to be pretty good at that unfortunately.  
  
Which led him to his second choice, the one he was more leaning towards. Saving Dawn himself. He could imagine Buffy's glowing face as she hugged long lost Dawn. Of course in her happy frenzy maybe even Spike himself could get a hug. At the very least Buffy would owe him one, and that was much better than what he had right now. Which was nothing, he had nothing of Buffy. He couldn't even get close to her.   
  
Spike stood up and motioned for the bill. The waitress walked over, taking her bloody sweet time, and finally handed him the bill. She stood by him and waited as he got out his money. He counted out the right amount of bills, adding in a tip, and handed the bill to the waiting waitress. The waitress counted up her earnings quickly. Finished, she stuck the bill and it's contents into the money belt around her waist all the while smiling at Spike.  
  
"Leaving so soon hunny?" she asked placing her hand gently on his arm. He looked down at her clownish looking; fire-truck red nails and shook them off quickly. "Don't be that way" the waitress continued, still coming on strong. It seemed the girl was blind to the obvious signs of uninterest. "After my shifts' done we could-" she began but Spike interrupted.  
  
"Not a bloody chance in hell" he said turning and walking for the door.   
The waitress looked disappointed for a moment before noticing an attractive looking man sitting down at another table. "Can I help you sir?" she asked, hurrying toward the table.  
  
Meanwhile Spike was in the alleyway outside trying to figure out his best plan of attack. Like the vampy woman had said there were at least three major theaters in Sunnydale and Dawn could be at any one of them. He leaned against the alley wall to think. It would be more likely that Dawn would be at the closest one, AMC Cinema.  
  
Well he had to do something, and soon, before those others caught up with her. Spike set out in the direction of the movie theater, with no idea what he would find.  
****  
The vampire bit down into the girl's neck and blood sprayed everywhere. Somewhere in the theater a girl yelped in surprise and Dawn could hear the sounds of people's upset whimpering. Like that ever happened in real life. Getting bite was never that bloody; Dawn had seen it happen a few times. Actually most of the things in this movie were over exaggerations; the people who made it should really spend some time in Sunnydale if they wanted to know the correct things about vampires. Dawn was sure Giles would disapprove of this movie majorly.   
  
Another gory part came up on the screen and the girl in front of Dawn whimpered and hide her face in her boyfriend's shoulder. Dawn turned around to see that most of the girls were hanging all over their guys looking frightened. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Jordan was watching the movie intently. Debating about what to do for a few minutes Dawn picked up a piece of popcorn idly and turned it in her hand. Oh well she couldn't be embarrassed forever right? Dawn dropped the popcorn on the already sticky floor and waited impatiently for the next gory scene. She didn't have to wait long; some man onscreen had just been decapitated. She reached over and grabbed Jordan's arm as if she was afraid.   
  
Jordan looked over in surprise. "What?" he whispered coming closer to Dawn. Dawn blushed, "possibly not the best idea," she thought to herself.  
  
"I was afraid" Dawn replied still holding onto his arm for some reason. Any gory part in the movie seemed long since over. Jordan raised his eyebrows in question but said nothing, instead turning back toward the feature. On screen, the main romantic duo were talking about their love. The couple leaned in for their kiss and the screen went dark, showing the credits.   
  
It took the two of them some minutes to work their way out of the screening room and into the main hallway of the theater. Neither said anything as they made their way to the double doors and walked out into the open air.  
  
"Sorry" Dawn muttered sheepishly. She was so embarrassed that she could hardly look up at him. Instead she played with the bottom of her shirt.  
  
"For what?" Jordan asked baffled.  
  
"Umm you know the whole arm thing" Dawn muttered, her face turning a brighter red than she thought possible.  
  
"Oh that!" Jordan said quickly. "Sorry I was just surprised that's all. Nothing else in the movie seemed to even bother you."  
  
"Yea I know I'm a freak" Dawn muttered, looking up at him.  
  
"Actually I thought that was pretty cool. Even I felt like cringing at some parts, but it didn't even bother you. It was like you saw stuff like that everyday," Jordan said smiling and turning a little pink.  
  
Dawn found herself smiling; "Well I do watch a lot of TV." Jordan took a step closer to her and pointed to a bench over by the movie posters. Dawn nodded and they sat down. "So what-" Dawn began but was interrupted as she noticed that Jordan was leaning forward. Her first kiss. Dawn went numb for a minute and couldn't remember what to do. Then she began to lean forward as well.   
  
"Hey!" a familiar voice called. Dawn's head shot up in embarrassment and she looked over at the flustered Jordan. She had been so close! Dawn looked up and saw Spike standing in front of her, arms crossed over his leather jacket looking down at her with disapproval. She stared up at him and blinked in confusion. "I don't think your sister would like you doing that shorty," Spike said motioning for her to stand up and scanning the area at the same time.  
  
"I am not short!" Dawn exclaimed shooting up to her feet. "And why should you care about what my sister likes or not? Oh yea that's right 'cuse you love her" Dawn said sarcastically. "Well she hates you! Why don't you leave me alone?" Dawn snapped, getting ready to sit down again.  
  
Spike recovered quickly enough from the insults to keep Dawn from sitting down. He grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. If only he didn't have that damn chip he would really enjoy smacking the girl about now. "Now listen love, we can do this the easy way or the hard way but your coming with me. I'll explain later," Spike said quickly, trying to drag her away.  
  
Dawn did her best to hold her ground but she wasn't all that strong and Spike was beginning to drag her forward, inch by inch. "What are you going to do, poke me to death if I don't go? There's no way I'm trusting you, now let GO!" Dawn screamed trying to pull her arm out of Spike's grasp unsuccessfully.   
  
Jordan finally recovered himself and jumped to his feet, ready to help. "I think you'd better let her go" Jordan said, trying his best to be menacing.  
  
"Oh please, don't make me laugh. Even with the chip in my head I can still bloody well beat you" Spike said getting seriously annoyed. He had been William the Bloody, Spike, he had struck fear in the hearts of humans and vampires alike. Now he was William the Baby-sitter, far less menacing.  
  
Something in the crowd suddenly caught his eye and he noticed that Lisa-chick coming their way. In minutes she would notice Dawn and use that weird whistle. He had to stop that from happening at all costs. Spike grabbed Dawn, forcefully this time, and pulled her towards him. He lowered his head and whispered in her ear. "There's a girl back there working for Glory, and she's looking for you. Look back if you don't believe me, but I wouldn't take too long a look or she'll find you."   
  
Dawn stared at Spike in shock, it seemed like he was telling the truth. She turned around quickly and noticed a brunette girl pushing her way through the crowd looking for something; looking for her. Dawn turned towards Jordan and gave him a quick, nervous smile. "Listen it seems like I really have to go with my-err-friend here. It's really important, but I had a lot of fun tonight and I'd love to do it again" Dawn called as Spike began pushing her through the crowd.  
  
"Hey are you going to be-" Jordan stopped as the sight of Dawn disappeared down the road, "all right?"  
****  
"So how did you know about this whole big conspiracy anyway?" Dawn asked, stirring her soda with the straw. After about three or four blocks Spike had ducked them into a coffee shop and gotten them a seat in the back. Dawn was still spectacle about the whole thing. She had complete forgotten the terror of having that woman pushing her way towards her, about now she was just pissed that her date was interrupted.  
  
"Does it really matter?" Spike asked exasperated. On the way over from the theaters Dawn had been unusually quiet, scared even, but now it seemed that she had successfully recovered herself. Joy.  
  
"Of course it matters! You just come and barge right into my date, tell me some woman is trying to find me, plus you mention Glory, and I'm not supposed to be even a little curious?" Dawn asked raising her eyebrows in question.  
  
"What are you doing on a date anyway?" Spike asked, picking up his coffee and then putting it down again. "Are you sure they said they didn't have any beer?"  
  
"'No alcohol of any kind' remember? I think that includes beer" Dawn answered matter-of-factly pushing Spike's coffee cup back to him. He sighed and took a swig of coffee, making a face as it went down.  
  
"How do people drink this stuff?" he asked wiping his mouth on his sleeve.  
  
"Stop trying to avoid my question!" Dawn snipped, "or I'm going to leave here right now and tell my sister you kidnapped me from my date."  
  
"Oh-oh come on now! That's not fair! What did I do to you?" Spike asked leaning across the counter. Nothing ever seemed to go his way, now he was being blackmailed by the brat. Actually, it reminded him of how Buffy often treated him, which made the insult worse. You'd think at least one of the sisters would think something of him.  
  
Dawn just glared at Spike and made a grab for her messenger bag on the seat beside her.  
  
"Ok, ok already. Don't get your knickers in a bundle. I was at the Bronze, you know just having a beer, enjoying the atmosphere. Well it just so happened that there were a bunch of vampires around-" Spike began, but was cut off by one of Dawn's questions.  
  
"How did you know they were vampires?"  
  
"Would you wait until I finish the story? Anyway like I was saying, a nasty bunch they were. They were sitting right behind Buffy and the rest of the Scoobys when-" Spike began to continue when he was again cut off.  
  
"Why were you sitting near Buffy? Were you stalking her?" Dawn asked, looking at him angrily.  
  
"You know one more interruption out of you and I'll-" Spike began picking up his spoon and holding it at her menacingly. Spike stared at his hand, realizing he had picked up a spoon instead of the fork or knife, which had been what he was aiming for.  
  
"What spoon me to death? Answer the question or I'm leaving" Dawn said sliding to the end of the booth.  
  
"Awww bloody-wait!" Spike said putting down the spoon and holding his hands up. "I'll tell you all right? I happened to be there before Buffy was ok? Is it so unthinkable that I might want to get out now and again?" Spike asked sounding a little hurt. Dawn felt herself relenting and slid back into the booth.  
  
"Ok so then what happened?" she asked, placing her elbows on the table and leaning forward.  
  
"Ok that's what I like to hear. Like I was saying, they were sitting right behind Buffy and they were listening to everything that they were saying. They were listening when Buffy said that you were at the movies. Then when Buffy and the rest of the mod-squad went up to dance they began discussing their plans. It seems that Glory told them to kidnap you or something along those lines, pet," Dawn opened her mouth to ask another question but Spike put up his hand and carried on. "They said that as soon as they caught sight of you they were going to blow some whistle so some kind of demon or monster would come out and do the 'napping. So when those three went out of the door I said to myself "Spike, you can't leave little Dawn high and dry like that. You've got to rescue her, make sure she's ok-" and all that."   
  
"I'm not little..." Dawn muttered playing with the sleeve of her jacket. Spike glared at her but took the opportunity to finish up the retelling.  
  
"So that's why I'm here. Happy now? Nothing too special, just good 'ol Spike coming to the rescue," Spike remarked draining his coffee cup. He put it down and made a terrible face.   
  
Dawn began to giggle; she couldn't help it between the thought of Spike coming to her rescue and the face he had been making at the coffee.   
  
"You think it's funny do you?" Spike asked her smiling. Soon both of them were laughing.   
  
Neither noticed three sets of eyes watching them from the window. Lisa crossed her arms over her chest and glared at both of her sidekicks.   
  
"I told you they probably just went down a little farther. Who in their right minds would go into a sewer?" Lisa cried out flipping a soggy leg at Philip. "These pants were new you know, I liked them a lot!" She took deep controlled breaths, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Lisa let her breath out in a final whoosh and turned her head from right to left making the guys squirm. "Ok let's just blow the damn whistles and get this over with," Lisa said picking her's up. The others quickly caught on and raised theirs' to their lips. "On the count of three.... one...two...three!" Lisa put the whistle to her lips and blew as hard as she could, the others doing the same. An unearthly sound rose from the whistles, carrying down the street, making the dogs bark in every household and every other animal put up a cry of protest.   
  
In the deepest region of Sunnydale something stirred.  
****  
"So who was your protector at the movie theater?" Spike asked taking a sip of his soda; now this was much better.   
  
Dawn giggled and blushed a little, "Oh well that was Jordan, he's in my art class."  
  
"Jordan huh?" Spike asked. "And Buffy let you go out with this Jordan?"  
  
Dawn sighed and sat back in her seat. "Well she wasn't going to let me go at first but I-umm-talked her into it." Dawn looked Spike up and down for a minute. She was still a little in shock that she was actually talking about this with Spike. Though she supposed it certainly hadn't been the first time she had carried on a conversation with him, even Mom had talked to him from time to time. Dawn wasn't exactly sure how to ask the next question, and she wasn't sure what answer she even wanted for it. "You really like Buffy don't you?" she asked sounding as if she was testing the waters.  
  
Spike didn't know how to answer at first. You tell a person that you bloody love them and they don't seem to get the picture. Oh well might as well say it again to niblet. Spike opened his mouth to answer when he heard a high pitched scream from outside. At once he was out of the booth and heading to the front of the coffee shop. "Stay there!" he ordered Dawn as he made his way to the outside window.   
  
Dawn didn't want to just sit there while everything was happening, she wanted to know what was going on too. Quietly, she slid out of the booth and snaked up to the window beside Spike. She froze in terror as soon as she looked out.  
  
Outside was one of the biggest monsters she had ever seen in her entire life, and Dawn had seen some monsters. It filled up the coffee shop window and was about as tall as a monster truck, a big brown monster truck. It looked like a giant blob except for three features. It had humongous arms and legs, which were dipping some kind of slop all over the street and the people fleeing from it. It also had what looked like a head with two beady red eyes, which were staring straight at her. Dawn couldn't help it; she let out a terrified shriek.  
  
"Didn't I tell you to wait back at the table? Don't you ever listen?" Spike yelled at her. Dawn couldn't hear a word Spike said all she could see were those red eyes staring at her. "Come on!" Spike said, grabbing her arm and trying to drag her through the coffee shop to the back door. He had her about two feet from the window when he heard the sound of breaking glass behind them and turned to see a set of arm and leg coming through the window. Next came the other arm and leg, the monster ducked his head under the window ledge and was inside the shop. Spike got in front of Dawn, meaning to protect her but the monster just swung one of it's gigantic arms and flipped him painfully into a nearby table. The table broke under his weight and he laid on his back, only half conscience.  
  
Dawn watched Spike crash into the table and felt numb. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the sound of screams and was dimly aware that people were pushing past her to get out the back door. She knew that she should follow them, try to blend with the crowd, try to get out. Dawn knew this but it wasn't registering, all she could feel was the fear that held her to the spot. One of the monster's gigantic arms dropped down in front of her and began winding itself around her. Finally the dream stage that Dawn had been in snapped and she came to her senses.  
  
HELP!" Dawn screamed, fighting and kicking to get out of the monsters' grasp. But it didn't seem to be doing any good, the more she fought the more the monster's gooey arm held her. "Spike help!" Dawn cried desperately looking over to the spot that Spike had been thrown. He began to get up, moaning in pain and mumbling curses. The monster, however, didn't wait for Spike to fully recover himself and quickly began to stride towards the window.   
  
Spike leapt painfully to his feet and began running after the monster. For something that looked like it weighted a ton it certainly wasn't slow. "Wait! Wait a minute!" Spike yelled after the monster but it ignored him, quickly stepping out of the window; Spike took the door.   
  
Dawn fought against the goop and turned around in the monster's hand so that she was facing Spike. "Why don't you insult him?" she yelled the question back to Spike.  
  
"Good idea! Hey you, pile of mud! Are you afraid to fight? Come back here, coward, and face me like-" Spike paused, thinking, "a blob!"   
  
The monster just ignored Spike's taunts and carried on down the road. "Those are your insults? No wonder you're not the "Big bad" anymore!" Dawn said.  
  
"What? Now listen here pip-squeak!" Spike yelled panting as he ran after the monster. They turned a street corner, the monster ripping up a fire hydrogen. "I'm doing you a favor here! What do you say I not save you then!" Spike threatened.  
  
"I'm tell Buffy!" Dawn yelled back. Spike was silent and began running faster. "Try saying something about it's mother!" Dawn yelled back, looking a little panicked as the thing began to speed up.  
  
"No wonder your such a dirty blob! You must have gotten it from your mother!" Spike yelled at the back of the thing.   
  
It stopped right in its tracks, causing Spike to skid to a stop a few feet away. Dawn gave him two thumbs up as the monster turned around. She once again had to fight her way through the glop of his fist to turn around. She hated to see Buffy's face when she realized what had happened to her favorite sweater. Maybe staying with the monster would be safer.  
  
The monster's beady eyes narrowed as it glared at Spike. Spike quickly closed the distance between himself and the monster. He threw a shot at the monster's stomach and pulled his fist back with brown goo on it. There was a hole where he had hit the monster but it quickly healed itself. Spike tried again, this time aiming at it's leg. Again the hole filled up almost as soon as it was made. What was this thing?   
  
The monster raised it's hand in the air, the one not holding Dawn. Dawn could see where this was going immediately. "Spike watch out!" Dawn cried pointing at the monster's arm.  
  
Spike raised his head quickly to look at Dawn, his eyes following her arm to where she pointed. In the air the monster's arm looked as if it had made a fist and before Spike could get away it swung it at him at full force. It connected with Spike with a sickening thud and he went flying through a nearby window. There went Dawn's last hope. She let out a scream that was quickly sallowed up as the monster picked up a sewer cover and swung himself down into the darkness.  
  
Spike came to minutes later, lying on the splintered remains of a dinner table. The sliver ware and napkins were scattered around in a mess and most of the people had abandoned the building. Spike got to his feet and pain shot up his arm where a splinter had been lodged very close to his heart. Too close, in fact, for comfort. Spike stepped over the ruins of the plate glass window he had crashed through and pointed himself in the direction of Buffy's house. This was going to take some explaining.  
****   
"It's seems like it's been a long time since the last time I've danced" Buffy said twirling her glass of lemonade in her hand. After a few dances they had all decided to hang up their dancing shoes to come back to Buffy's house and hang. "We should dance more often."  
  
"I agree" Willow said with a smile. "We really got down and boogied tonight."  
  
Anya looked at Willow in confusion. "Boogied?" she asked.  
  
"You should really watch Saturday Night Fever, it's the official boogie movie" Willow said taking a sip of her own lemonade and putting it down on the kitchen counter.   
  
"Oh no thanks, I really don't like sad movies" Anya replied quickly. Everyone in the room looked over at her in surprise. "What? What did I say now? I didn't make any references to sex!" Anya asked startled.  
  
"Anya, what's sad about Saturday Night Fever?" Xander asked raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Oh well you know that poor person being sick on a Saturday night and all. Don't you find it sad too?" Anya asked looking even more baffled.  
  
The whole room burst into laughter and Anya began to look hurt. "No, no you see that's not what Saturday Night Fever is about at all" Xander said.  
  
"It's not?"  
  
"No, it's a happy movie about dancing, and those color changy floors" Willow explained.   
  
"Than why would they name it that?" Anya asked looking even more startled. "It's a very misleading title."  
  
While Willow, Xander, and Tara began to explain what Saturday Night Fever was about Buffy's thoughts began to wander to Dawn. She wondered if her little sister was having a good time, if she was ok.   
  
The doorbell interrupted the conversation and Buffy's thoughts. Buffy jumped up from her seat and grinned at her friends. "It's probably Dawn back from her date."  
  
Buffy began walking quickly in the direction of the door and her friends followed. "We have to get Dawn to tell us all about her date" Willow said happily, bouncing off the soles of her feet. Tara looked over at her and began to giggle.   
  
"Our little Dawny is all grown up now," Xander said wiping away a fake tear.  
  
Everyone laughed as Buffy got to the door and closed her hand around the door handle, yanking it open. A deadly quiet suddenly descended upon the room as everyone noticed who it was. Buffy herself was shocked to see Spike standing on her front doorstep instead of Dawn. He was bleeding from a wound in his arm and a nick on his head had dried blood around it as well. A flash of sympathy jolted through her but was quickly pinned down by anger, lots of anger. Without a word Buffy began to shut the door. Before she could shut it completely however, Spike stuck his foot against the doorframe.  
  
"Hey, aren't you even going to hear me out? See what I've got to say?" Spike asked sounding surprised.  
  
"Of course I'm not. I told you to go away and leave me alone didn't I? Don't you get it Spike, I want you to leave me alone" Buffy said trying to force the door closed around his foot. He kept his foot steady.  
  
"It's about Dawn" Spike said.  
  
Buffy's grip on the door loosened and she stared at him in shock. "If you did anything to Dawn, if you even laid a finger on my sister I'll stake you right here and now" Buffy threatened in a low, dangerous voice.  
  
"Calm down I didn't do anything to Dawn. Why do all you Summers doubt my intergerity?" Spike asked sounding a little hurt. Buffy ignored the question and continued glaring at Spike.  
  
"Well what is it then?" she demanded.  
  
"Aren't you going to let me in? I could really go for a nice cup of coffee," Spike suggested with a smile.  
  
"No, now tell me what happened to Dawn" Buffy said angrily.  
  
"Ok love now just hold on a minute. And don't interrupt me while I'm telling you the story" Spike said to Buffy and she nodded. By now the rest of the Scooby's were crowded around the door and listened intently as he told his story. He told everything, the vampires, his dashing rescue of Dawn (maybe a few details were overextragerated here), and finally about the monster. "So that's what happened and I just thought that you should know is all. I figured we could all try to figure out how to fight this thing," Spike said in a very self-satisfied tone.  
  
"I can't believe you let that monster take my sister" Buffy said.  
  
Spike stared at her unbelieving for a minute. This was the gratitude he got for trying to save Dawn. This was what he got for all his pain and suffering, for almost dying? How Buffy could turn this around to make him look like the bad guy he didn't know but it seemed like she was doing it successfully. "Hey now! I almost got killed back there trying to save the smaller half and this is the gratitude I get?" Spike asked angrily.   
  
"You know what I think we're done talking here Spike" Buffy said, ignoring his question. She turned around and faced her friends to discuss what to do next. "I'm going to go call Giles and tell him we're coming over. Maybe we can find this thing in one of his books and find out where it's hiding. Let's just hope it hasn't taken her back to Glory already" Buffy said worriedly and headed off towards the phone. As soon as Buffy turned out of view the gang turned back towards the door.  
  
"Nice job Spike" Xander said sarcastically gripping the door.   
  
"If I didn't have this chip in my head you'd be the first to go" Spike growled at him. Suffice it to say it hadn't been a very good night in Spike land.   
  
"But you never are, are you?" Anya asked nervously. "Getting the chip out I mean. I mean that could never happen right? That could never happen could it Xander?" Spike felt oddly satisfied that the thought of his getting the chip out frightened Anya.   
  
"No, it couldn't" Xander said staring right at Spike. Spike could think of a few things he'd like to do if he didn't have that chip in his head right now.  
  
"You believe me don't you red?" Spike asked, looking over towards Willow. At this point he needed something, anything.   
  
Willow shrugged her shoulders and looked over her shoulders for Buffy. "I dunno I guess" Willow remarked. Spike heaved a sigh and leaned back on his haunches, waiting for Buffy to return. There was silence for what seemed like an entirety before Buffy came back.  
  
"Giles thinks he's heard of something like that monster Spike described before. He said to meet him at the magic shop" Buffy said suddenly appearing with everyone's jackets. She slung her own on and walked out the door, eyeing Spike. The rest followed, with Anya clinging to Xander when they walked by Spike. Like Xander would actually be an adequate defense if Spike actually was able to hurt them. "I just want to get there as fast as we can" Buffy said walking quickly to the front of her lawn.   
  
Spike hurried to catch up and then fell in stride with Buffy. "I'm coming too you know, to help out with the whole Dawn thing" Spike said to her, she ignored him. "You could thank me you know" Spike suggested feeling angry that he was getting no recognition for helping out. Buffy stopped dead in her tracks and turned her head to glare at Spike dead in the eyes. Spike took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it with his lighter. "Fine don't say anything then" he said blowing out a cloud of smoke.   
  
Everyone continued on to the Magic Box in silence.  
****  
"Can you be a little more specific about this monster?" Giles asked closing one of his books and looking over at Spike. Everyone sat in chairs around the circular table in the center of the magic shop. Giles stood close to his shelf of books, taking down thick volumes as he spoke. "A 'blooby thing' doesn't really cover much" Giles said scowling.  
  
"It was brown," Spike said shortly, opening one of the books in front of him. Ever since he had gotten to the magic shop it seemed everyone was going for his throat. What happened to feelings of thankfulness?  
  
"Yea that's helping Spike. Got any more great details for us?" Xander asked sarcastically. Spike had a powerful urge to throw the book at Xander's head. Instead he gripped the sides until his knuckles turned white.  
  
"It's not the bloody easiest thing to describe you know. Especially since it was playing ping-pong with me. I've never seen any kind of demon like that before" Spike said remembering his pain and rubbing his shoulder.  
  
Buffy couldn't look in books any longer and got out of her seat, pacing the store. At the moment she really wanted to go into the back of the shop and take her frustrations out on one of the punching bags but she didn't want to miss any news of the monster. She circled the table and when she was close to Spike she whacked him across the back of the head.  
  
"Hey! What in the bloody hell was that for?" Spike said turning around angrily. He glared at Buffy as she stretched her arms above her head.   
  
"I really needed that, thanks Spike" Buffy said walking back to her chair and taking a seat. She picked her book back up and once more began flipping pages.   
  
Spike stared at her for moments in shock. Where had that come from? Buffy always continued to baffle him. Like it wasn't enough that he had to deal with her sister and being beat up by IT now he had become her punching bag. Why did he even try?  
  
"Oh, oh! Blooby thing!" Willow said startled, leaning forward to read in her book. Her huge smile began to fade as she read. "Sorry, false alarm just some sort of thing with jello" Willow said in a depressed voice.  
  
"Could it have been killer jello Spike?" Xander asked, mocking him.  
  
"One more peep out of you funny-boy and I'll-" Spike began but was cut off by another outburst.  
  
"Oh!" Tara said suddenly turning back a few pages in her book. She looked up and noticed everyone's eyes on her. Tara moved in her seat, slightly uncomfortable and laid the book out in front of her, open to a page with a picture of a monster. "Is this it?" she asked, pointing to the picture and pushing the book over to Spike.  
  
"Yea that's the thing!" Spike said tapping the book with his index finger. Tara pulled the book back to herself and handed it over to Giles.  
  
Giles took off his glasses, wiped them on his shirt and began to read the passage Tara had found. "It's called a mek bog demon" Giles read. "It was first summoned by the native people of-"  
  
"Giles" Buffy cut him off quickly, "how do we kill it?"  
  
Giles read further down the page; skimming it for any mention of weakness or what could cause it harm. He figured out that there wasn't any but checked it over twice more just to be sure. "Well it doesn't actually say how to kill it" Buffy's face crumbled in as if she had been dealt a blow. "But" Giles added quickly, "it does say where we could find it." Buffy's face began to show hope once more.  
  
"Well where does this big 'ol blob hang out?" Xander asked.  
  
"It says" Giles said, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, "that they like to stay in areas with plenty of soil."  
  
"Soil? Why would they want that?" Tara asked looking up at Giles curiously.  
  
"It seems they use it as their food source" Giles stated flipping the pages back and forth to see if he could find out anything else about the creature they would be dealing with.   
  
"Where's a place in Sunnydale with enough soil?" Buffy asked looking around the table.  
  
"There's that garden in the park" Spike said, speaking up after being silent. "I hear it's lovely there," Spike stated, adding quickly, "not that I'd know."  
  
"Well I guess now that we know where this thing is we should go pay it a visit" Buffy announced looking over at Giles. "Let's go get some weapons since we don't know what's going to kill it."   
  
"Good idea" Giles agreed. The two walked towards the back of the shop and disappeared through the door to the training area.  
  
Silence descended upon the room as everyone waited nervously for Buffy and Giles to return.   
  
Finally, Anya spoke up. "Save the soil" she said. Everyone turned their heads to stare at her, she was starting to feel like she had done something wrong again.  
  
"Actually Anya," Xander said, turning to face Anya, "I think we're trying to save Dawn."  
  
"Oh" Anya said, "whoops."  
****  
Some minutes later Buffy and the gang where at the arch that signified the start of the garden. Buffy had a pack filled with weapons of every kind swung over her shoulder and a few stakes inside of her jacket. Everyone else was outfitted with at least one weapon to protect themselves. Willow was stumbling under the weight of a huge ax and both Tara and Anya held crossbows. Giles and Xander had shorter, double-sided axes for them to hold. Unlike everyone else, Spike had nothing. It seemed Buffy wasn't too concerned about his safety.  
  
"Ok everyone," Buffy began in a low voice. "Let's split up here and meet by the mulch pile. Xander and Anya, you take the left side. Willow, Tara, Giles you take the right side. Me and" Buffy paused and said the next part distastefully, "Spike will take the center. Ok?" Buffy asked, looking around the group.  
  
Everyone nodded and began off their separate ways. Buffy and Spike started off down the pathway in the middle. Spike kept glancing over at Buffy to see if she was even going to speak to him. At the moment it wasn't looking promising.   
  
"Listen Buffy, I think we need to talk..." Spike began. He thought it was about time that they talked about their relationship, or at least lack there of. Maybe with a good heart to heart (even if one wasn't beating) Buffy would realize that she felt something for Spike. However Buffy just held her hand up for silence. "Buffy you can't deny that there's something between us forever" Spike began but Buffy flipped a hand up over his mouth and pointed straight ahead. Farther up the path, two of the male vampires that had been sitting at that table so many hours ago were standing watch.   
  
"We must be close," Buffy whispered, taking her hand from Spike's mouth and looking over at him. "We should probably sneak up on them when their not looking, I don't really feel like dealing with vampires right now," Buffy said. Spike nodded and the two walked quietly down the path, ducking into the bushes from time to time so as not to be seen. Finally they were only a few passes from the vampires, hiding behind a tree nearby.  
  
"When they turn around" Buffy whispered to Spike, "we stake them." Spike suddenly became aware of how close he was to Buffy. Both of them were pressed up behind the tree. It felt as if Spike was suddenly getting dizzy, but a good kind of dizzy.  
  
"No problem Slayer," Spike said. "I've got you covered."  
  
Buffy looked at him suspiciously once more and then edged out from behind the tree. The vampires had their backs to them and Buffy pulled out two stakes, handing one to Spike. "On three" she whispered. "One...two...three!" Within seconds Buffy and Spike were on the vampires. They didn't even know what hit them; the vampire Buffy had went after, Philip, turned around and swung his fist into the air missing Buffy by miles. Buffy elbowed him in the stomach and he doubled over. Then she thrust the stake into his heart. For a second he looked up at her, surprised, and then turned to a big pile of dust. Buffy turned to see that Spike was already dusting the vampire off his jacket.  
  
"Now what Slayer?" Spike asked checking Buffy over to make sure she was ok. It didn't seem as if she was hurt, not a scratch on her.   
  
"I guess we go straight ahead," Buffy said, sounding unsure. "That demon has to be up there somewhere" she said pointing to the continuing path in front of her. Buffy and Spike started carefully down the path, aware that something might jump out of the shadows at any second. The truth was that Buffy was afraid that Glory was already there, that she knew that Dawn was the Key. So far it looked like Buffy was really no match for Glory, she had kicked her ass on many occasions.  
  
The path finally came to an end where it filtered into a round court. The other paths seemed to end here as well because she could hear the voices of her friends approaching. In the middle of the court was a fountain, the sound of the trickling water mixing in with the sound of lowered voices. In back of the fountain was a white gazebo and in the gazebo was Dawn. She was sitting down on the bench inside with her hands stuck to the railing with some kind of gooey substance. In fact Dawn was practically covered in the stuff. Buffy was about to run over to her little sister when she noticed something to the left of the gazebo. There, not far from where Dawn was, laid a huge pile of soil and mulch and next to the soil of was the mek bog demon. It was pretty much as Spike had described it, tall and misshapen with odd-looking arms and feet and a hardly visible head. It turned around and it's beady red eyes glared at the group of trespassers.  
  
"Oh my God," Xander muttered looking up at it, "it's the thing."  
  
"I can handle it" Buffy said not sounding too convincing. She began to walk over to the monster, pulling out an ax and Spike ran to catch up to her.  
  
"I don't think that's going to work," he said pointing the to ax.  
  
"Why not?" Buffy snipped harshly.  
  
"Weren't you listening at all when I told you about the thing?" Spike asked. This question warranted a blank stare from Buffy, as if she didn't even realize he had seen it before. "Fine then try it on yourself, see how much luck you have with it" Spike snapped at her falling behind as she got up closer to the demon.   
  
Buffy raised her ax over her shoulder and looked at the demon. "Ok mud monster get ready to die" Buffy said swinging the ax down through it's abdomen.   
  
Somewhere behind her Tara gasped and looked over at Willow. Willow looked at her and shrugged her shoulder, asking what was wrong in Willow-language. Tara only muttered one word, but it was one that made all the difference, "mud."  
  
The ax swung cleanly through it's middle. The beast didn't seem fazed by this however; the spot where the ax had cut through was quickly healing. Buffy blinked and stared at it in confusion. Wasn't that enough to kill the thing? Buffy dug through her bag quickly and pulled out a crossbow, an arrow already fitted into the notch. Buffy fired the bow and the arrow passed right through the neck of the creature, coming to rest with a thud in the tree nearby. However, this didn't seem the bother the creature either, the gaping whole where the arrow had passed was quickly filling in. What was this thing and didn't anything hurt it? Buffy wondered to herself. She had never met a demon before that was so...well...weird. She decided that she was going to have to use her fists to finish this one. Buffy made her hand into a tight fist and pulled it back, releasing a power shot to the creature's knee. Buffy was startled when she realized that her arm had gone right through it's bulbous leg with her hand on the other side. She quickly pulled her arm back through before the thing started healing and it got stuck there.   
  
It seemed that the mek demon had finally got tired of Buffy and swung one of it's arms down, sending Buffy flying back to where her friends waited behind. Spike stepped in Buffy's path and caught her, the force of her body knocking him over in the process.  
  
"Your welcome" he groaned from underneath her as Buffy began to get her wits about her. She quickly got off of Spike and looked down at him for a moment, trying to decide what to do. Then she dropped her arm down, offering Spike a hand up. Spike took the offer and got to his feet. By now everyone was looking at the monster except Willow and Tara who were talking quietly amongst themselves.   
  
Finally Tara and Willow walked up to the front of the group, where Buffy and the rest were staring at the demon in awe. "Tara had an idea" Willow blurted out and at once all eyes were on her and Tara. Willow turned to Tara and waved for her to speak to the group.   
  
Tara looked nervous as she cleared her throat getting ready to speak.  
  
"Get to it already will you?" Spike asked. Everyone glared at Spike and he put up his hands as if in defense. "What? I just want to know what the girl thinks" Spike stated.  
  
Tara gave a nervous smile and began to speak; she really hated talking in front of a crowd, having their undivided attention. "S-sorry. I was just s-saying that the monster looks like m-mud" Tara stuttered. She took a deep breath and continued. "It also likes soil right? What if it is a mud monster?" Tara asked, gaining more confidence. "We should probably try something against it that would hurt mud. We should use water" Tara finished looking nervously around the group again.   
  
"That actually makes quite a bit of sense," Giles said taking off his glasses to clean them on his shirt sleeve.  
  
"It's what I've been trying to say all along" Spike announced. Everyone turned their eyes towards Spike and stared at him for a few moments in disbelief. "Well maybe not in that way exactly" Spike muttered.  
  
"What should we do?" Buffy asked looking at Tara. Once again Tara could feel herself getting nervous, yet happy all at the same time. It felt good to be some use for a change.  
  
"Willow and I could make a spell to conjure up some water. It's not a really complicated spell or anything it just doesn't turn up a whole lot of water" Tara explained spreading her hands about five or six inches apart. "About that much. I figured we could dump it on the demon's head and use it for a distraction and then Buffy could trip it into the fountain" Tara said pointing to the unnoticed fountain in the middle of the court. Water trickled from a little girl holding a pot.   
  
There was silence for a few minutes and then Buffy nodded. "Ok that sounds good. You and Willow do your spell and I'll wait to push the monster in when it's confused" Buffy said.   
  
"I'll help" Spike quickly interjected. Buffy glared over at Spike for a minute but didn't refuse his help.  
  
"What job you got for Xander?" he asked walking over to Buffy. Anya followed on his heels.  
  
"I would like to help to. You know melt the wicked mud pile," Anya said glancing at Buffy. Buffy looked around quickly trying to find some way for them to help. She noticed a pair of hoses off to their right and pointed at them.  
  
"You can help me get the demon into the fountain. After Willow and Tara do their water spell I want you to use those hoses to spray that thing into the fountain ok?" Buffy asked, Xander and Anya nodded heading off to go get their hoses.  
  
The giant mud demon didn't seem to be at all concerned with what was going on over in the group and ignored them as he went over to the pile of soil and began feeding. It was aware that soon that woman would be there and it's job was over. It didn't dare leave until the woman came however, because even it was smart enough to be afraid of some things and she was one of them.  
  
Willow and Tara held hands and Willow began the spell. She was slightly nervous; the last time they had tried the spell both had ended up drenched. "Cliodna, goddess of the sea please hear our calls and answer us. Bring us the life-giving water that will save our souls" Willow said with her eyes closed, concentrating on her breathing and on the spell.  
  
"Give us the strength we need to win this fight. Lend us your strength!" Tara said both witches raising their hands in the air and waiting, hoping for the best.  
  
"Lot of rubbish is what I say" Spike muttered from the hiding place he and Buffy shared close to the demon. Buffy turned her eyes from the spell and glared at Spike, then turned back to see what was happening.  
  
Between Tara and Willow's hand a small ball of water had formed and it was getting bigger. The two opened their eyes at the same time and made a swinging motion with their hands, sending the ball of water over to the demon.   
  
The water rained down on the demon and it began to cry in pain stumbling back and forth and wiping madly at it's eyes. Xander and Anya took this chance to run out of the bushes and turn on their hoses. Anya's hoses blasted out water and the demon began to step back to get away from it. Xander's hose, however, seemed to be broke. He was banging on it, hoping to get it working to no avail.  
  
This was their chance; Buffy and Spike leapt out of the bushes and closed the distance between them and the demon. Both kicked hard at the demon's feet, throwing them out from under him and causing him to tumble into the water fountain. The demon moaned and screamed once it was in the fountain, slowly melting away until all that was left of it was the mud that littered the water.  
  
"Well it looks like that worked" Tara said walking over to where everyone was standing, looking at the pile of mud which had once been such an imposing demon.   
  
"Yea, demon went all melty" Willow agreed. "Which was what we were going from right?" Willow asked nervously. Buffy looked up and grinned.  
  
"Exactly" she said. "Thank you all so much for helping" Buffy said happily. "You guys are the greatest."  
  
"Anytime you want someone to help kick some demon booty you call Willow" Willow said grinning.  
  
"I didn't help at all," Xander said downcast. "My hose didn't work."   
  
Buffy walked over to Xander and gave him a hug. "Well you were the moral support then," Buffy said reassuringly.  
  
"Did you see what I did to that big monster?" Anya asked excitedly. "I helped, I saved the day!" she said, sounding very pleased with herself.   
  
"Ok not helping to recover the ego," Xander said looking over at Anya. Anya looked down sadly and muttered that she was sorry. Xander put his arm around her shoulders and smiled. "You were really awesome out there Anya, I'm really proud" he said beaming.  
  
"Really, you are? Because I thought I did a pretty good job myself" Anya pointed out.  
  
Buffy laughed, "You all did a great job!"  
  
Suddenly the loud sound of someone clearing their throats could be heard. Everyone turned around to see Dawn still stuck in the gazebo, looking impatient. "Umm guys, anyone gonna get me out of here?"  
****  
Lisa watched all this, scowling, from the bushes behind the gazebo. Not only had those Slayeretts killed her only two servants, they had also destroyed Glory's monster. That couldn't mean anything but bad news for her. She turned quickly and began to wade through the bushes, hoping to get the hell out of there before Glory did. The sound of a shrill female voice was the first indication she had that she might not make it.  
  
"Hurry it up will you? I want to get there sometime this century. And these shoes weren't made for jungle exploring you know. I really should have brought one of my more athletic demons" the voice of Glory became audible.  
  
"I'm sorry most gracious one I'll try to hurry up so you don't hurt your most honored feet" the groveling voice of her favorite demon replied as the voices got painfully closer. Lisa tried to dart for a section of the bushes that would hide her from view but she was too late. Glory had already appeared, sending a vine swinging as she violently pushed it out of her way. She noticed Lisa at once and quickly treaded her way over. Lisa had a horrible feeling at the bottom of her stomach, the knowledge that it was very likely she would die, and soon.  
  
"What's going on here?" Glory snapped looking Lisa over from head to foot. "And where's my hostage?" Glory said motioning angrily toward the center court. Lisa's eyes followed her to the empty pavilion and the murky fountain water that had once been one of Glory's demons.  
  
"Well you see your-umm- majesty" Lisa began nervously, "that mek demon got the girl all right. It had her tied up in that gazebo just like you said" Lisa cleared her throat for the next part. "But there were some-err-complications."  
  
"What kind of complications?" Glory asked, getting dangerously close. Glory was beginning to lose her temper, after having to thread through the jungle she wasn't in the best of spirits. It was fairly obvious that this vampire had lost the girl and her only mek demon and those things were rare to come by. She decided to spare her life until she heard the full story, however, a generous move on her part.  
  
"Well you see the Slayer came and got her. She had her friends with her and they did some kind of spell, killed the monster and got the girl and all that" Lisa replied nervously, looking for any kind of escape route. There were none.  
  
"And you let her? Do you have any idea what I've been going through lately? Did you know that that Slayer knows where my KEY is but won't tell me? Do you?" Glory asked, fuming. She grabbed Lisa's head by the chin and yanked her to her feet. "Why exactly didn't you try to stop them, could you at least explain that to me?" Glory asked.  
  
"Well I thought that I should wait here and tell you what happened" Lisa lied, she had really hoped to save her life. Going up against the Slayer would have meant instant death.  
  
"Well thanks for telling me," Glory said sarcastically grabbing Lisa's head harder. Glory wretched Lisa's head from her body and she turned to ash. Glory flicked the dust from her top and let out a long sigh. "You can never get good help anymore you know that?"  
****  
"Thanks everyone but I'm sure we'll be fine now" Buffy assured everyone back at her house. Giles looked at Buffy as if he wanted to say something but didn't.   
  
"All right then if you're sure. Call me if you need anything" Giles said backing towards the door.   
  
"See you later Buffy" Willow said giving her a quick hug, "and Dawn" Willow said hugging the younger sister as well. Tara waved and the two walked over to stand by the door with Giles.  
  
"You know if you ever need some Xander power I'm always around" Xander said giving Buffy a quick hug.  
  
"Well unless we're-" Anya began but Xander gave her a meaningful look and she finished, "playing yantzee."   
  
Buffy watched her friends as they waved goodbye and began heading out the door. "Oh and everyone" Buffy began. The group turned around to look at Buffy, she smiled. "Thanks a lot, I couldn't have done it without you." Everyone grinned and walked out the door.  
  
The door closed and suddenly the house filled with silence, it's only occupants Buffy and Dawn. Dawn walked away from Buffy and sat down on one of the steps looking downcast. Buffy walked over and sat down next to her, anticipating the heart to heart conversation.  
  
"I really messed things up tonight huh? You were right, I shouldn't have gone out at all" Dawn said, sounding depressed.  
  
"No I wasn't right," Buffy said firmly. Dawn looked up at her sister in shock and Buffy continued. "I guess I've been really overprotective of you lately. I'm sorry about that, it's just that you're the only family that I have left now and I can't let Glory hurt you. But that doesn't mean that I should cage you up and never let you get out. That would only just hurt you more. I have to learn to let go, and that's going to be hard, but I'm going to try a little at a time ok?" Buffy asked looking over at Dawn.   
  
Dawn nodded at her older sister. "Ok" she replied. Dawn sighed and leaned back on the stair behind her. "Jordan probably never wants to see me again after what happened at the movie theaters" Dawn said.  
  
"What happened?" Buffy asked and Dawn told the whole thing over again. Buffy winced, realizing how embarrassing that must have been for Dawn. When she finished Buffy gave her a smile and punched her in the arm. "Your right he probably won't want to see you any more. Too high-mantience" Buffy kidded.  
  
"Hey!" Dawn exclaimed standing up. Though she had to admit it felt good to be doing something normal like arguing with her sister.  
  
The doorbell rang and Buffy got up from her perch on the stair, walking over and opening the door. Spike stood on the outside porch, grinning at her.   
  
"Hi again" Spike said, leaning against the doorjam. Buffy gave him a dirty look and crossed her arms over her chest.   
  
"What do you want?" she asked.  
  
"Well the way I figure it I pretty much saved mini-slayer over there. That's got to count for something. You owe me" Spike stated grinning.  
  
"Well the way I figure it I owe you nothing. In fact it seems to me that you caused more trouble than anything else" Buffy said grabbing the doorknob.   
  
"Come on now! Is that fair? I put my life on the line and this is how you repay me?" Spike asked, looking insulted. As if he had actually done anything but get in the way.   
  
"Spike I think this conversation is over," Buffy said closing the door on him, catching his shoulder in the jam.  
  
"Ow! Hey!" Spike said to the closed door, the white wood seemed to be mocking him. He turned around and looked out onto the horizon, it would be daylight soon. He'd have to get a move on if he didn't want to end up a giant fireball. Turning and looking at Buffy's house one last time he began down the steps of her porch. Once again he turned around and stared at the house.  
  
"Bloody hell Slayer" he muttered as he turned and headed for home.  
****  
end  
  
  



End file.
